1. "No Country for Old Men"
A dream job for me would be Literary Critic. To read books and then write about them, not much would be more satisfying. My intellectual hero Christopher Hitchens is a great one, deftly dissecting the works of a range of authors from Salman Rushdie to J.K. Rowling.
I finished the book a couple weeks ago and really wish I had something profound to say about it, I feel like I do but just haven't had the time to unpack it. On Spring Break I read No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I don't have a single favorite author, I have favorites by category, but Cormac McCarthy is my favorite Literary Fiction writer. His Border Trilogy is a masterpiece (When John Grady Cole went back for his horse, I threw the book onto the ground yelling, "NOOOOOO!").
No Country for Old Men is similar to the Trilogy but not as densely written. I think No Country will have a broader audience appeal. What makes his writing great for me are the deep inner lives of a few central characters. Death (and thus life) is usually meditated. I also greatly appreciate the way McCarthy makes nature practically a character herself, and just as richly described and often with a deep inner life of her own. He writes as he wants you to read it, not as grammar would parse him.
I recommend the book, it is a quick read. I highly recommend his Border Trilogy this summer.
2. Obama's "bitter" comment
My first exposure to Obama's now famous discussion of voter frustration was in a radio newscast. Not surprisingly, the comment was miscast (and this was NPR, not Fox News). I thought it sounded interesting but certainly must be more than the claimed "Obama said people cling to God and guns because they are bitter about life." I read the transcript of the discussion for myself. The setting was a private donor event. Obama was discussing the frustration of people in economic hardship and their skepticism of any politician's ability to help. He said he could ride through with the usual talking points, but:
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Frankly, I think it is correct, but before you brand me elitist and tune out, let me address my biggest frustration about the hyped reaction to this. Nowhere does Obama say that everyone who clings to guns or religion is doing so out of bitterness over something. Yet I cannot count how many times I have heard this fallacious argument made by "outraged" people (who most likely have never actually read or heard what Obama said). I firmly believe that some people cling to guns, religion or xenophobia out of frustration and bitterness. That seems hard to dispute, actually. However, I do not read here that Obama was saying that everyone voting God-Guns-Immigrants is bitter. If you have a thought about what is elitist about this discussion, please let me know.
3. Earth Day
Yesterday was Earth Day. I love nature, always have. My earliest memories are of digging in a creek bed with a spoon and marveling at roly-poly bugs. Most of my favorite moments of life include part of nature: the location or weather or scenery. Sunshine makes me happy, breezes refresh my soul, mountains meet an inner need. So appreciating Earth is something that comes easily, and not just because as The Tick once said, "It's where I keep all my stuff." But appreciating Earth or being re-energized by nature is not enough. The best way I know how to describe what I am growing to understand and struggling to integrate: how to live nonviolently.
Too much there to discuss now, so the usual Earth Day focus is sufficient. In fact, these are some good starting points to living nonviolently: reduce, reuse, recycle. Simple enough and I like that these principles coincide with my struggle against consumerism. When I must buy new (okay, when I choose to buy new; like I said, it's a start) I try to use these principles: low energy to manufacture, durable, efficient.
There are some topics, maybe mini-blogs. Please unpack as you see fit.
